The three girls here are Hedy Lamarr, Lana Turner and Judy Garland. Turner is discovered, not sipping sodas but running an elevator. One of Ziegfeld's scouts finds Garland performing with her father in burlesque. Hedy Lamarr happens to be there just because her boyfriend is auditioning for a place in the orchestra. These three girls are all chosen as Ziegfeld girls, and while the glamorous Lamar and Turner both have leading roles in the musical number, Garland is featured in the chorus. One will make it to the top of the wedding cake; another will retire to be a wife, and the third will end up in tragedy.
This is an unofficial sequel to The Great Ziegfeld with the focus on the girls rather than the man behind the scenes. He is absent here, but the plot is something similar to some of the subplots from the original. Legengs of real life Ziegfeld girl scandals are still being talked about today with Turner an amalgamation of several real life Follies girls.
Garland, who would later stand out in the supporting role of Marilyn Miller in the 1946 Jerome Kern musical bio Till the Clouds Roll By, is perky and sweet, but her character is no different than any of the roles that she played opposite Mickey Rooney. Here, she gets Jackie Cooper instead. Lamarr remains a beautiful block of ice, which leaves Turner to get the best scenes as a self- destructive train wreck.
Musically, this is just as lavish looking as its predecessor and Tony Martin provides the voice for the Follies leading man who makes a play for Lamarr even though he's married
Lamarr does get to liven up in a confrontation with the wife that takes a different turn. James Stewart also has a rather thankless part as Turner's boyfriend who ends up involved with gangsters. Smaller roles played by Charles Winninger, Edward Everett Horton and Eve Arden are brief but memorable. Dan Dailey has a nir as a low-class brute who abuses the down on her luck Turner. Garland explodes finally in her big production number, Minnie From Trinidad, where she dances with a chubby but talented hoofer and appears to be propelled high up on a platform with only bamboo poles lifting it.
This propelled Turner into stardom and showed that she was more than just another blonde beauty. She really gives her all acting wise. Some elements make this seem forced and an artificial view if the Fillies, but as directed by Robert Z. Leonard, it is a worth-while follow up to the original.
This is an unofficial sequel to The Great Ziegfeld with the focus on the girls rather than the man behind the scenes. He is absent here, but the plot is something similar to some of the subplots from the original. Legengs of real life Ziegfeld girl scandals are still being talked about today with Turner an amalgamation of several real life Follies girls.
Garland, who would later stand out in the supporting role of Marilyn Miller in the 1946 Jerome Kern musical bio Till the Clouds Roll By, is perky and sweet, but her character is no different than any of the roles that she played opposite Mickey Rooney. Here, she gets Jackie Cooper instead. Lamarr remains a beautiful block of ice, which leaves Turner to get the best scenes as a self- destructive train wreck.
Musically, this is just as lavish looking as its predecessor and Tony Martin provides the voice for the Follies leading man who makes a play for Lamarr even though he's married
Lamarr does get to liven up in a confrontation with the wife that takes a different turn. James Stewart also has a rather thankless part as Turner's boyfriend who ends up involved with gangsters. Smaller roles played by Charles Winninger, Edward Everett Horton and Eve Arden are brief but memorable. Dan Dailey has a nir as a low-class brute who abuses the down on her luck Turner. Garland explodes finally in her big production number, Minnie From Trinidad, where she dances with a chubby but talented hoofer and appears to be propelled high up on a platform with only bamboo poles lifting it.
This propelled Turner into stardom and showed that she was more than just another blonde beauty. She really gives her all acting wise. Some elements make this seem forced and an artificial view if the Fillies, but as directed by Robert Z. Leonard, it is a worth-while follow up to the original.